South Korean media: Chinese car brands lead Japanese brands in the European auto market for two consecutive months!

On August 22, South Korea's *Herald Economic* published an article stating that Chinese automakers have surpassed their Japanese counterparts in sales within the European automotive market for two consecutive months.

This trend has become increasingly evident as Chinese automakers expand into the European market by emphasizing price competitiveness.

Latest data from the European Automobile Manufacturers Association shows that in June, Chinese brands outperformed Japanese brands in terms of sales volume in the European market.

In June, new car sales in Europe reached approximately 1.41 million units. Among them, five Chinese automakers—BYD, SAIC, Chery, Geely, and Zeekr—achieved sales of 171,630 units, capturing around 13% of the market share, a year-on-year increase of about 5.1 percentage points.

During the same period, the combined sales of six Japanese brands—including Toyota, Honda, Nissan, and Suzuki—amounted to 158,540 units, representing a market share of 11.1%.

Chinese brands sold approximately 13,000 more vehicles than Japanese brands in June.

In May this year, Chinese brands first surpassed Japanese brands in the European market. In May, Chinese brands achieved sales of 138,410 units, exceeding the 130,424 units sold by Japanese brands.

Although Toyota maintained the highest market share among Japanese brands, Suzuki, Mazda, Honda, and Mitsubishi experienced weak sales performance. This is largely due to Japanese brands' over-reliance on gasoline and hybrid vehicles, failing to meet the growing European demand for electric vehicles.

Meanwhile, Chinese brands are actively responding to evolving European demands—particularly for electric vehicles—thereby increasing their market share in Europe.

Among Chinese brands, Geely Group sold 49,244 units, while SAIC and BYD each sold 38,000 units. Following closely were Chery and Zeekr, with sales of 32,455 and 12,829 units respectively.

As Chinese brands begin local production in Europe, their sales growth in the region is expected to continue in the coming years.

BYD’s factory in Hungary has already started trial production. SAIC Group has confirmed plans to build a plant in Spain. Additionally, Geely is exploring shared production models with local partners. Geely announced plans to invest 221 million euros in Ford’s factory in Spain to establish a local joint venture.

Zeekr is advancing local production in Europe through collaboration with partner factories. Notably, since Stellantis Group holds Zeekr’s overseas distribution rights, Zeekr’s sales in Europe are poised for further significant growth.

For the first half of this year, China’s auto exports reached 5.096 million units, up 65.3% year-on-year. Chinese automakers are actively expanding their export markets. If current trends continue, total annual exports could reach 10 million units by year-end.

Original source: toutiao.com/article/1874183842085897/

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